Inevitable
by jansonpls
Summary: Leia witnesses something she realises was, indeed, inevitable... KJ


-I don't own Kyp, Jaina, Leia, or any Star Wars characters, etc, blah.

-I'm sorry, I know this idea has been done to death, but it _wouldn't go away_.

-Hopefully Leia's POV adds something to it.

-Oh, set at a random moment after TUF.

-----

Leia Organa Solo strolled down the corridors of the GFFA base on Denon, taking her time. She was headed for the hangar, where - a quick comm call had revealed - her daughter was, but was in no real hurry. She needed to speak to her but, with no emergencies in the background, nothing pressing on their time, she could do so leisurely.

As soon as she entered the hangar, Leia could pinpoint her daughter. The thud of tools against Jaina's X-wing, and the curses – Corellian and learnt, probably with assistance, from Han – that followed were easily tracked to the other side of the hangar, where Twin Suns squadron's fighters were at the moment. The laughter – male laughter – that accompanied Jaina's frustration made Leia pause for a second. She glanced round the hangar, but apart from a group of mechanics repairing a freighter in the corner, the only person she could see was Jaina, legs poking out from the X-wing's cockpit.

Shrugging, Leia moved forward for a second, but stopped again as Jaina spoke.

"I don't see what's so funny," her muffled voice said, indignation in her tone.

"You're obviously having trouble," someone replied, amusement in his voice. "Let me help."

Jaina sat up suddenly at that and leaned over the side of her fighter, pointing a hydrospanner rather accusingly at the culprit. "Don't you dare touch my fighter, Durron. That living monstrosity you call a ship has destroyed what little mechanical aptitude you may once have possessed. You touch this ship, you die."

_Ah, Kyp_. Leia hung back in the shadow of a nearby cargo ship; close enough to see and hear the other two, but not so close as to be intruding. She told herself it was to give them privacy; let them argue without having another awkward presence to consider. But her conscience knew it was so she could listen in without them knowing. Well, so what? Privacy was good and well, but wasn't a mother entitled to know a little about her daughter's life?

"What, I can't even help a little?"

"No."

There was a brief pause, another clatter, and Jaina let out an exasperated sigh and leaned over the cockpit again. "Fine. Pass me that other hydrospanner."

Kyp apparently did so, and Jaina worked in silence for another second. Her question, when it came, was muffled by the fighter again, though the frustration was still clear in her voice. "What are you doing here, Kyp?"

"Leaning against the wall."

"Ha ha. You're a comic genius, aren't you? _Why_ are you here, then?"

Kyp seemed to consider this for a moment, and Jaina finished whatever she was working on in the cockpit. She grabbed her tools and jumped down from the top of the fighter, moving to one of the panels on the other side. Kyp followed her, and now Leia had a clear view of them both.

_Stop it_, she scolded herself. _Just go get Jaina and stop snooping. It's hardly an important conversation they're having._

"Well," Kyp began, "it's a nice place to relax."

"That's what the lounge is for."

"But…" Kyp looked round briefly, and Leia ducked, instantly scolding herself again.

"But what?"

Kyp turned back to Jaina and grinned. "The company here's a lot better."

Jaina just rolled her eyes and turned away, but Leia could have sworn she saw her blush faintly. _Now why is that?_

"What on Coruscant are you doing to that ship, Jay?"

"Fixing it," Jaina returned icily. "What does it _look_ like?"

"Well, I don't pretend to be an expert in X-wing mechanics, but shouldn't the charges be the other way round? And in a totally different place? And _that_ wire-"

"You forget that this is _my_ ship. It runs better than anyone else's – _especially_ that foolish living thing you fly – because I fix it up the way I want to fix it up. The way it works best. So don't you go bugging me about it. It works. It works great."

"Okay." Kyp drew out the last syllable in a tone of disbelief. "But you just remember what I said when you're sucking vacuum."

Jaina closed her eyes briefly in an effort – a futile one – to control her frustration, before turning round to face Kyp. She seemed momentarily surprised to realise how close he was – a little _too_ close, Leia noted with disapproval – but quickly recovered and glared at him. "Don't you have anything better to do than annoy me?"

Kyp tilted his head as he considered this. "Not really, no."

Jaina sighed as she turned back to her repairs. "You're infuriating, Durron. I can't understand _why_ I seem to put up with you."

Kyp grinned and stepped to the side and forward, and leaned against the hull of the X-wing. "You know why. Admit it."

"Admit _what_, Kyp?"

"Sometimes you think I'm alright."

Leia froze and squeezed her eyes shut as she awaited Jaina's answer. _Please, no…_

With another exasperated sigh, Jaina dropped the tool she was working with and picked up the next one, sparing Kyp a glance. "Maybe. Sometimes. When you aren't being the insufferable scoundrel that you are."

_Inevitable_, thought Leia, as she sighed and slid down the hull of the cargo ship. It was. It was indeed.

Kyp grinned and straightened. "Scoundrel? I think I like the sound of that…"

Jaina swore and dropped her tools as she stood up suddenly, sucking at a burnt finger. She frowned as Kyp reached out and took her hand in both of his and rubbed at the injury, but didn't pull away.

"Yeah, I do. And-" Kyp's eyes glittered dangerously, and his grin grew wider. "I think you do, too."

"Oh please. Give it up, Kyp." Jaina frowned again, and bit at her bottom lip. "And stop that."

"Stop what, Goddess?"

She nodded at her hand, but still didn't make any effort to pull it away. "_That_."

"Hm…" Kyp pretended to think about it for a moment as he continued to rub at Jaina's hand. "Nope." Instead of letting go, he used his hold to pull her closer, until there was barely an inch between their bodies. Still, she didn't pull away.

Leia watched the two with an almost morbid curiosity, as Jaina looked up at Kyp nervously. Kyp had grabbed Jaina's other hand now and was holding them both behind his back, forcing Jaina closer to him than she was entirely comfortable with. And yet, Leia noted with vague amusement – which she was horrified with herself for feeling – Jaina _still_ didn't try to pull away.

"Don't…" Jaina's voice was barely more than a whisper, as if afraid to move her lips more than necessary. It was, indeed, a rather precarious situation; they were awfully close to Kyp's. "Don't…" She couldn't quite finish the sentence, "Don't kiss me." Partly because talking was rather awkward in the current situation – you needed breath for that, and Jaina was finding breathing strangely difficult – but also because she wasn't sure she wanted to say it.

"Why not?" Kyp had gathered her meaning, and his voice was low as well. "You could use a good kiss."

Leia cringed.

"I don't-"

Jaina's next words were lost as Kyp's mouth descended on hers. The kiss was soft, hesitant at first, but then Jaina pulled her hands free of Kyp's – not to push him away, but to embrace him. As Kyp moved his arms round to pull Jaina even closer to him, the kiss turned more passionate, and he pushed her back against the hull of the fighter.

Leia tore her eyes away after a second, her hand over her mouth. She sighed and turned back in the direction of the hangar's exit, surprised to find a smile creeping across her face. OK. So maybe she didn't need to speak to Jaina after all. She was – to put it lightly – rather otherwise occupied at the moment.

It could wait.


End file.
